Friday, April 8th. That's the date that marks the end if my almost 11 year tenure at Two EE's Farm.
Summer 2015, before the field was sold.
It's a strange, surreal feeling, one that hasn't quite sunken in yet. I don't think it will until I board to skytrain on Monday the 11th, and travel to a new job, and hopefully a new career, in the opposite direction of the farm. There's a sort of melancholy sadness, mixed with equal parts of excitement and nervousness at the thought of leaving a job after so long to start a new one.
Two EE's has been my second home. The people there, the regulars, the lifers, my family. The transient, summer student employees my foster siblings, here one day, gone the next.
I won't miss the sweltering summer heat on my back, as I rip weeds from the ground. I won't miss the cold, rainy January days, scrapping mud out of gutters. I won't miss dealing with some of the customers. But I probably will miss all of it.
I'll miss the fresh air, and the fresher fruits and veg. I'll miss my coworkers, and the feel of fresh tilled soil under my feet. I'll miss the smells of the farm, of flowers, dirt, and the faintly sweet scent of compost. I'll miss the early mornings, watching the sun climb over Mount Baker in the distance.
Rainbow Chard, fresh from the field.
It's strange. It's like leaving home again. It's like setting out on a new path, a new adventure, knowing that things will never be the same again. I've never quit a job before, this is the only job I've ever really known. I've watched coworkers come and go, some of them multiple times, and I wonder if they've felt this same way. Or if it was just a job to them, just a paycheque.
Two EE's was my home. It's a part of who I am. And I'll be forever grateful for having worked there. But I'm ready for something new.